


An Evening Stroll

by ClaireKat



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Gen, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-17
Updated: 2015-07-17
Packaged: 2018-04-09 20:42:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4363505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClaireKat/pseuds/ClaireKat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bill Cipher has finally procured a human form; now he has to decide what he's going to do with his newly acquired body.</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Evening Stroll

**Author's Note:**

> My first time writing human!Bill. I was inspired by boomsheika's art on tumblr, and her human!Bill design is the one that I always picture when I write. I hope you enjoy!

The wind wailed and shrieked with a fierceness that provoked most of the creatures within the wood to seek shelter in their various crevices and crannies. Despite the fussy gale it was a nearly cloudless night, as evidenced by the white incandescent light that painted bewildering streaks between the viscous, seeping shadows of the night.  In the middle of this environmental turmoil sat a lone shack, its wooden panels creaking and moaning in response to the pressure exerted on them by the wind. The night seemed a calm and tranquil one, minus the raging winds that threatened to topple the trees, but little was any being aware that the wind had not come alone; standing in a direct pool of moonlight, the form of an unsettling entity could be gleaned, making his way across the rutted land on which the shack now settled.

Each careful step the being took could just have easily sucked the life out of the blades of grass that his freshly shined shoes stepped on. The power and aura that radiated from the being was enough to feasibly form a physically observable barrier; a thin ripple in the invisible veil of space time. The being rested his hands on the hips of his unfamiliar form, flexing his fingers absently as he did his best to adjust to the new sensations he found mildly uncomfortable. His lips widened into a baleful smirk as he took a few more deliberate steps towards the imposing and dilapidating house.

The house was quiet, more like silent, and completely empty. It was close to midnight, though it wasn’t like time was something that existed to the being in question. Well, time existed, but it was nothing more than an inconsequential concept to the lone figure that strolled leisurely past the outside walls of the structure, his eyes appraising the grand old shack with a mischievous glint in his eye. He had all the time in the world, but he figured now was as good a time as any as he phased through the solid walls traditionally meant to keep people out. The space that he inhabited was his unique domain, a plane of existence suspended between fantasy and reality. As hard as he had tried to make it into the material plane time and time again, he had to admit that he liked his suspended plane of infinite existence just fine. The immeasurable atmosphere that surrounded him, extending out into the vast cosmos, was the space he was most comfortable in. Sure, pain and pleasure were fun to experience every now and again, but the range of physical sensation was so limited…it was truly a wonder to him how humans managed to put up with such a pathetically miniscule range of sensations accompanying their monotonous, brief lives.

Nevertheless, he had to admit that he was helpless to the draws of humanity. To a creature like himself, imbued with limitless knowledge and a power that most other beings could only dream of, the complexity that comprised the tiny bodies of the superficially basic creatures known as humans sparked an interest in him. He often found himself wondering if he would ever tire of dabbling here and there in their trivial affairs…but doing so was just _too_ easy. A little smile here, an insignificant sugar coated lie there; actually, who was he kidding? He didn’t even have to _lie_ to the pathetic mortals. All he ever spoke was the truth; it wasn’t his fault that they never bothered to look at the big pictures that lurked just beneath the surface of his words. Every other supernatural entity in the universe seemed to understand the importance of specifics and the literalizing of requests…

But the question remained: why did these foolish creatures still interest him so?

“An immortal and all-knowing being with limited restraints on your abilities and you _still_ can’t figure out those damn humans…the years must be taking a toll on you,” the creature mumbled to himself, his paces coming to a halt as he noticed the glint of a reflection in the mirror he was passing by. He wasn’t used to that; the reflection. It appeared that this form still had enough of his raw essence that he could maintain his usual gestures of flotation and intangibility, but he was also solidly within the physical plane.

“Well well well…what _do_ we have here?”

The sanguine demon rested his hand against the surface of the desk that sat below the mirror; clearly just a decorative piece for the hall. It was littered with trinkets—picture frames, statues, various and meaningless doodads to him—yet he knew that any disturbance of the peace might make a sound that alerted the inhabitants of the shack to his presence. He was sure that he wasn’t ready to unveil his presence just yet. Instead, he brought his sight back to stare with concentration at the face that he didn’t recognize, analyzing it’s every plane and detail. The face stared back at him, a perfect copy of his new reflection, its gaze originating from within the nonexistent realm of the reflective glass.

“Hm…well, human is human, always missing just a little bit of flair. But as meat suits go, I have to say, this one turned out quite well.”

The demon stood at attention, noting the little touches of himself that called back to the true form that lay dormant inside of him: the slender top hat that floated just a couple of centimeters above the point of his head, the eye patch whose design mimicked his true body…and it even seemed to be capable of movement. He noticed its color shimmer and shift to a lighter shade just a bit as he bounced from thought to thought, twirling it absently in place as he observed. It was such a inimitable trinket, and he couldn’t help but titter at the realization that the eye patch responded to his moods. Speaking of, moods were also something very unusual for him; he was so used to either feeling nothing at all in the hallow void of his being, or raging anger that fried every fiber of his soul when incited in just the right way. He shrugged it off, knowing that emotions were just something that came with the human territory. He was sure that he could handle them.

“Tch. I can handle anything those puny mortals even think of throwing at me,” he scoffed, straightening the stygian black bow tie that was nestled carefully in the direct center of his shirt collar.

“I may have had some problems with those pesky kids in the past…” He felt his blood start to boil at the memory. Hm, anger was so much easier to manage in this form—no erupting flames, no seething red skin. Perhaps he would have to utilize the benefits of this discovery more often. Though he was one to _never_ admit to weaknesses or faults, he couldn’t help but acknowledge that his uncanny knack for losing track of his coherent thoughts when he was riled was something he had to work on. After all, his aim was to pursue domination of the cosmos, dispose of the weak and useless, and institute a new world order with him sitting squarely on the seat of the gold plated throne. He might have succeeded in his goal by now if not for so many unfortunate hang ups with vexatious children or cosmic and inter-dimensional road blocks. Armed with a successful human form combined with his demonic essence and a dash of his true power…there was no way he could be stopped now.

“And if this form fails me,” he murmured darkly, the words seeming to seep out of his mouth on a rolling black fog. “I can always abandon it and reconstruct a new one. Now that I’ve got the process squared away, along with success in passing through the realms…”

He returned to his examination of this new form. The suit was snazzy, the eyepatch was quirky, and the hat…well, he simply wasn’t _him_ without it. He did a fanciful twirl, examining his human body from every angle in the low light that shined directly on him from the window down the hall. He had always found such peace in the night, the darkness…and peace wasn’t something he particularly cared for. Yet he couldn’t deny that the way in which the moonlight broke through the scraggly tendrils of the trees, cutting through the endless blackness of the night like an ethereal blade, created just the kind of eerie ambiance he thrived on. He tried to remember a time when he had felt things had gone as right as they were going now, but…well, even the details of a demon’s memory can get spotty when you’ve existed for millennia.

“Now, to finish this stop, and then be on my way…” he murmured softly, straightening the lapels of his jacket before conjuring up the cane that served as a simple extension of himself. The bowed obsidian staff minutely reflected the moonlight as its master floated up the rickety stairs and past the lone window centered at the first landing. He reminded himself absently that if he was going to be walking around in public, where he would be noticed, it would probably be wise for him to utilize these new legs of his…but only until the perfect time presented itself, when he could unleash chaos on the naïve public.

“I’m sure I’ll be able to institute the height of anarchy with this form,” he snickered ominously, mentally speaking to himself now in an attempt to retain the element of surprise with his unsuspecting hosts. “It will be simply _divine_ …so much chaos, so many souls desperate to have their wishes granted, or their lives spared. Ah, I will never tire of their delicious desperation!”

He let his feet rest on the top step, his weight on the ancient wooden floor sending a distinct and bone-chilling creak that echoed throughout the attached floorboards of the second floor. He found a sickening delight in his own heinousness, noting the answering creak of a child moving in bed as he took another step towards the room from whence it came. He knew that the children of this house, or at least one of them, were keen on being tuned in to anything that was unfamiliar or out of place. Though it was beyond obvious to him that he did not belong here, he couldn’t help but concede a flicker of minor admiration for the child who no doubt had learned to recognize which of his living mates was coming up the stairs simply by the tone of the creak that announced their arrival.

“Well well well…it appears my reunion will be preceded by some expectation…” he thought, straightening up once both feet were solidly perched on the second floor landing. He shifted just enough to send another creak rippling through the dense boards of the floor, his smirk only widening as he heard sounds of the child scrambling around, no doubt preparing in either offence or defense for the visitor. “Pity. I was so hoping to scare the _life_ out of him…”

His anticipation of the child’s reaction to his new form was the driving force in his movements as he continued his conscious and conspicuous steps towards the bedroom. He brought himself to a pause in the doorway, completely enshrouded in the shadows that cloaked the house where the relieving light of the moon could not penetrate. His eyes saw the scene of the bedroom clearly, though, and he let out an audible chuckle at the sight of the young boy, his latest nemesis, balanced on the bed with a bat in his hand. The demon smoothed back his silken hair, letting his teeth reflect like a light in the dark as he stepped into the room with a look on his face that, if his full power was unbound, would have instantaneously swathed the child in the cloak of death.  

“Long time no see, Pine Tree.”  
           

It occurred to him only after the words escaped his lips that the boy on which his eyes rested now was no longer young…well, at least not by human standards. Not as young as he had been during the demon’s previous altercation with him. Time wasn’t a concept that touched the demon, and therefore it was certainly not something that he ever considered might altering his surroundings. He was used to existing in a constant, infinite, and incomprehensible dimension of limitless potential and unbound parameters. Change was relative, and besides, he didn’t have time to waste expending personal thoughts on things that didn’t affect him.

The boy that his newly implemented eye rested on now was taller, leaner, and more hardened in his features. The demon found it quizzical that the boy’s flippant nature had seemed to shift so suddenly. For him, a few years were less than an eye blink…it was incomprehensible to him that so much change could occur in such a miniscule sliver of time. No bother, though; the boy was still essentially the same, and the fear that pooled in the depths of his wide, incredulous eyes was satisfying enough for the demon.

“Ah, you seem taken aback…did you really think you’d seen the last of me?”

The expression on the boy’s face told the demon all he needed to know, but he enjoyed playful banter regardless; it was something he was superb at. Who was he kidding; everything came to him with ease. He twirled his cane absently as he sauntered slowly forward, taking a few more steps into the room. “C’mon Pine Tree, give me something to work with…you’re all grown up and you still have nothing to say to me? I’m almost disappointed that I came all this way to see you and all you can do is give me the ole’ ‘deer in headlights’ routine…I mean, I know you’re just a pathetic human, but _really_. You’re the only one that’s managed to give me a run for my money, and I’m pretty sure I might have invented the possibility of wealth way back when. Did the years sheer away any semblance of that kid I actually kind of liked?”

He paused and adjusted his bowtie absently. “Oh, wait, sorry about that. I don’t _like_ anyone…but hey, I remembered ya. That’s more than most meat bags can say. That is, if any of them could still talk after our deals were done. Most of the time that just wasn’t how it panned out.”

“H-How did you—?”

“Oh, so you’ve finally found that squeaky little voice of yours! Well speak up kid, I mean I may not be deaf, but geez. You got a little earthquake going on on that bottom lip of yours; you might wanna get that checked out sometime.”

“Get out, get _out!_ ” The boy swung the bat with gusto, and the demon simply and swiftly ducked his head to avoid any blows. He enjoyed pain, yes, but he was in the middle of a conversation after all. He didn’t feel that interrupting his greeting was necessarily called for, and continued to dodge the haphazard blows that the child sent wildly flying at him. “Mabel, wake up, _now!_ If we wake up, he’ll be gone—”

“Ah, see, that’s your tough luck there, kid.” The demon shrugged, gripping the bat with a force that, if he had exerted any more, would have crushed the simple object in his hand in an instant. “I’m not bound to that otherworldly dimension anymore. Well, not wholly, anyway. See, I finally unlocked the secret of passage to this world, and the formula to whip up one of these handy meat suits as a happy bonus! Isn’t that great? My power is a little limited in this form, sure…but hey, trade-offs are just part of the business.”

The color drained from the boy’s face, almost as if the demon’s words had a magnetizing effect on his blood, draining it from his skin promptly and without warning. The demon’s grin elongated into a smirk coated with malice, his uncovered eye reflecting the wickedness of a creature that truly felt no moral constraints on any level. A cackle slithered through the demon’s lips, dancing into the boy’s ears and sending him rocketing backwards until his body was pressed firmly against the wall. The demon could tell that true terror had seized the child, and he found satisfaction pool in his chest…at least for the moment. He had left the impression he had intended, and that was the important thing.

“Well, if seems like my work here is done. You’re good at spreading the word, right? I mean, seeing as the rest of your family was asleep for this little affair—”

“You did something to them, didn’t you? Put them under some spell? Oh shit oh _shit_ —”

The boy scrambled from his bed, pushing past the surprisingly bright figure to make it to the other side of the room. The demon returned to his usual idle floating, crossing his legs leisurely as he drifted over to inspect the scene on the other side of the room. His cane hung limply from his jacket sleeve as he played absently with the cufflinks that embellished the clothing of this form he wasn’t used to; he let his head loll lazily to the side as his eyes drooped indifferently, observing the boy’s frantic shaking of the other body that lay sleeping peacefully in her bed.

“What, you think I cast some sort of spell on them? Really now; I may have the power to control and influence any being of my choice, but I’m not lazy enough to sprinkle some magic sleeping dust on such inconsequential subjects,” the demon huffed, crossing his arms in response to the boy’s unspoken affront to his dignity. “It’s not _my_ fault you come from a family of heavy sleepers. I mean really Pine Tree, the first time I possessed you, you could barely keep your eyes open! Clearly your gene pool is plagued with a propensity for debilitating fatigue.”

The boy spun to face the floating demon, his hand swinging around and almost clocking the demon right in the face with a tight fist. Luckily his reflexes were top notch—he had surprisingly had no issues of movement yet with this body—and he maneuvered out of range with a smooth backflip. He steadied himself on his cane, remaining suspended in an even space above the floor and below the ceiling, unable to keep his amused snickering to himself.

“Ah, I forgot how fun it was to torment people. It sure is good to be back!” he exulted, wiping his eye in a mock gesture of overwhelmed elation. “Well, can’t waste all of my time here. Just wanted to stop by, give my little greeting—don’t worry, I’ll be back soon. But I have a lot more world to explore first, some really important lives to ruin, regimes to topple…I mean, it shouldn’t be too difficult. But I’ll always have a soft spot for this trash pile of a town. And you, of course, your precious little family…well, I said I had big things planned, right?”

“Bill, no—!”

“I gotta make a couple of house calls, but I’ll be back, don’t worry. And don’t forget to give my regards and salutations to that great uncle of yours!”

The demon bent in a farewell bow to the panicking teen, removing his hat in a respectful fashion and tipping the world as he did. He replaced it promptly, smirking at the evidence that his effect on this world was still just as potent as in his own realm. This _was_ going to be fun. The boy attempted to tackle the demon, to grab him, anything to stop him from his abscond; he moved as quickly as he could to yank out the tome of enchantments and other spells meant to curb the actions of the paranormal. He threw the book open with force, flipping through the pages and turning to face the demon before he had even located the page he was looking for. By the time he turned around, the entity was nowhere to be seen.

As he hovered above the town, the moon framing him with a glow that only expanded his intimidating aura, the demon drunk in the landscape and complementary boundless list of possibilities that lay before him. Coming back to this world was the best decision he had ever made. Making himself available to traverse it in this form was the second. And the third…well, his next move would decide that.


End file.
